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With most tax planning, there are certain strategies that are generally effective and shouldn\u2019t be ignored. The same holds true for estate planning. Here are three essential estate planning strategies to consider that may help you achieve your goals.<\/p>\n
1. Use an ILIT to hold life insurance <\/strong><\/p>\n Do you own an insurance policy on your life? Then be aware that a substantial portion of the proceeds could be lost to estate taxes if your estate is large enough to be liable for them. The exact amount will depend on the estate tax exemption available at your death as well as the estate tax rates that apply.<\/p>\n However, if you don\u2019t own the policy, the proceeds won\u2019t be included in your taxable estate. One effective strategy for keeping life insurance out of your estate is to set up an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) to buy and hold the policy.<\/p>\n If you already own your life insurance policy, you can transfer the policy to an ILIT. But watch out for the \u201cthree-year rule,\u201d which provides that certain assets, including life insurance, transferred within three years of your death are pulled back into your estate and potentially taxed.<\/p>\n 2. Place assets in a credit shelter trust<\/strong><\/p>\n Designating your spouse as your sole beneficiary may seem like a good strategy. But doing so can waste your estate tax exemption.<\/p>\n Suppose you leave everything to your spouse. There will be no current estate tax at your death because of the unlimited marital deduction (assuming your spouse is a U.S. citizen). When your spouse dies, however, the assets transferred to him or her at your death will be included in his or her taxable estate (assuming the assets remain intact). A portion of your spouse\u2019s estate could be subject to estate tax, depending on a variety of factors such as the size of your spouse\u2019s total estate and the estate tax exemption available at his or her death.<\/p>\n You can preserve your exemption and reduce or even eliminate estate taxes by placing assets in a credit shelter trust. If properly structured, the trust provides your spouse with income for life \u2014 and access to the principal as needed \u2014 but the assets aren\u2019t included in his or her estate. Plus, your own exemption shields the trust assets from estate tax.<\/p>\n 3. Take advantage of a gifting strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t underestimate the tax-saving power of making gifts. Currently, the annual exclusion is $15,000 per recipient ($30,000 if you split gifts with your spouse).<\/p>\n Annual exclusion gifts can be more effective because, unlike lifetime exemption gifts, they don\u2019t reduce the amount of wealth you can transfer tax-free at death under your estate tax exemption. Gifting, whether under the annual exclusion or lifetime exemption, also removes future appreciation from your taxable estate.<\/p>\n Work with a pro<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s much you need to consider when developing or reviewing your estate plan. Contact us so you can keep your plan on the right track.<\/p>\n \u00a9 2021<\/em><\/p>\n <\/body> With most tax planning, there are certain strategies that are generally effective and shouldn\u2019t be ignored. The same holds true for estate planning. Here are three essential estate planning strategies to consider that may help you achieve your goals. 1. Use an ILIT to hold life insurance Do you own an insurance policy on your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,48,10],"tags":[8,11,12],"class_list":["post-15740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-estate-planning","category-news","tag-articles","tag-news","tag-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15740\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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